Tobacco-wringing machine



(No Model.)

A. B. vCOSBY.

` TOBACCO WRINGINC MACHINE. I C No. 501,328. Patented' July 11 UNITED STATES `PATENT OFFICE.

ANDERSON B. OOSBY, OF RICHMOND, VIRGINIA.

TOBACCO-WRINGING MACHINE.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 501,328, dated July 11, 1893.

Application filed May 16, 1892. Serial No. 433,133. (No model.)

To 1f/ZZl whom it may concern: A

Be it known that I, ANDERSON B. CosBY, a citizen of the United States, residing at Richmond, in the county of Henrico and State of Virginia, haveinveuted certain new and useful Improvements in Tobacco-Vringing Machines; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use thesame.

My invention has relation to machines for wringing or pressing substances for the purpose of extracting the moisture contained therein, and is more especiallydesigned for operating upon tobacco whether in leaves, sheets or layers, whereby the same is dried quickly, and among the objects in view, are to provide a machine of the character described in which the upper bearing or squeezing roll may be uniformly adjusted toward and from the lower roll; also, to provide means whereby the rolls may be driven positively and without unduestrain upon the bearings or the driving belt.

Other objects and advantages of the invention will appear from the following description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

The invention consists in the construction, arrangement and combination of parts, all as hereinafter fully described, illustrated in the accompanying drawings and pointed out in appended claims.

In the drawingsz-Figure l is a front elevation of my improved machine. Fig. 2 is a side view thereof. Fig. 3 isa vertical section through the oiling devices and a journal-box. Fig. 4 is a side view showing the arrangement of thepressure indicating scale.

A indicates a suitably constructed supporting frame having a trough B for receiving the liquid squefzed from the material. Beneath said trough and journaled in bearings in the sides of'the frame is a driving shaft O which carries a fast pulleyD and a loose pulley E intermediate the sides of the frame. I prefer to make the loose pulley slightly less in diameter than the fast pulley so that when the driving belt is shifted upon Y saidv loose pulley there Will be little or no strain upon said belt.

VUpon one of the projecting ends ofthe shaft O is mounted a fly-wheel F and upon the opposite end is mounted apinion G which gears with a large gear wheel Hmounted upon one end of a shaft I which passes transversely of the machine above the trough and has its bearings in journal boxes supported in the sides of the frame. Upon the opposite end of the shaft I is mounted a pinion K which gears with a similar pinion K mounted upon oneend of ashaft L which also extends transversely of the machine directly above the shaftIa-nd journaled in journal-boxes M supported in the sides of the frame.

Mounted upon the shafts I, L, are the squeezing or pressure rolls N, O, respectively, which may be of any desired or suitable material, and of a length to extend nearly the Width of the trough. Upon the shaft I beyond the outer edges of the roll are mounted vtwo flanges P of a diameter sufficient to prevent any moistureexpressed fromy the material from splashing or being thrown upon'the v,f gtearingof the machine, and causes said liquid to fall into the trough.

The rolls N, O, may be of any suitable dilameter and in order that the upper roll may fbe'adjusted toward and from the lower roll ,when this may be found necessary or desirable I provide theV following meansz-Q indicates a transversely-arranged shaft which has bearings in ears q, loosely mounted upon the upperends of vertically-arranged screw-shafts R. The latter have mounted thereupon below the bearing ears q, bevel gear-Wheels S which gear with like Wheels T mounted on the shaft Q. The latter is provided at one end with an operating handle U for turning the same. Thelower endsof the screw-shafts are provided with heads Q which engage beneath caps Q2 screwed upon a threaded extension Qsof the journal-box M. Qtindicates a plate adapted to slide Within the extension Q3 and provided with a socket g4 to receive the head of the screw-shaft. Beneath the plate Q4 is arranged a coiled spring Q5 which is adapted to be compressed by the raising of the journal-box when there is an excess of material passing between the rolls. When the shaft Q is revolved in one direction the shafts R' by engaging beneath the caps Q2 of the journal-boxes will cause the latter to 'be IOO raised, and when the shaft Q is revolved in the opposite direction the shafts R will be lowered .thus permitting the journal-boxes to lower also and consequently bring the rolls nearer together. Thus both ends of roll O will be raised or lowered a corresponding distance so that the roll O will exert a correspon ding pressure alongits entire length upon the material treated.

For the purpose of locking the roll at any desired adjustment I provide nuts V loosely mounted `upon the screw shafts R said nuts being provided with levers o.

Upon the upper ends of the sides of the frame or trough are secured bowed springs IV. W'hen the roll() has been adjusted to the desired position relatively to the roll N the levers mare turned until they bear tightly upon the top of the sides of the trough thus wedging or binding the threads of the screw shafts and preventing further rotation of the latter. By turning the levers o, in the opposite direction the nuts of the levers will release the threads of the shafts and the latter may then be rotated. By placing the levers o, upon the bowed springs, said levers and their nuts will not rotate along with theshafts.

For the purpose of lubricating the journals of the rolls without permitting the lubricant to get access between the journal-boxes and their bearings I provide tubes X which pass downwardly and screw into the said boxes and communicate with shallow grooves provided within the boxes as shown, said tubes X being provided at their upper ends with cups Y containing lubricant.

For the purpose of indicating the degree of adjustment of the roll O and therefore the amount of pressure exerted by the same, I provide a suitable scale-plate Z divided into inches and fractions thereof, said scale-plate being secured to the gib Z at the side of one of the journal-boxes or in close proximity thereto.

A suitable belt-shifter Z2 is provided for shifting the driving belt from the fast to the loose pulley and vice versa.

For compensating for wear between the journal-boxes and their bearings suitable gibs such as Z maybe used, as shown in the drawings, adapted to be secured by means of set screws between the journal boxes and the main frame.

It will be seen that by my arrangement of gearing the rolls are rotated in unison in opposite directions to cause the material to be fed through said rolls and be subjected to the required pressure, and that said rolls are driven positively by means of the gear-wheels whereby the roll bearings are not subjected to a downwardly or upwardly pulling strain which is the case in ordinary machines where the rolls are driven by belt and pulley. At the same time much greater power is brought to bear upon the material.

The advantages of my machine will be readily seen from the foregoing description when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.

What I claim, and desire to secure by Letn ters Patent, is-

1. In a machine of the character described, the combination of a suitable supporting frame, the lower roll revolubly mounted in said frame, the upper roll also revolubly mounted in the frame, vertical screw-shafts mounted in the frame and adapted to work in the journalboxes of the upper roll, gear wheels mounted upon the said screw-shafts near their upper ends, bearings carried by the said screw-shafts above the gear-wheels, a horizontal shaft revolnbly mounted iu said bearings,gearwheels mounted upon said shaft and meshing with the gear-wheels on the screw-shafts, nuts mounted upon thescrew-shafts and provided with levers to edect the rotation of the nuts and cause them to bind upon the upper edges of the frame, and bowed springs carried by said frame and upon which springs said levers are adapted to bear, all arranged for cooperation substantially as described.

2. In a machine of the character described, the combination with a lower roll, of an upper roll mounted in journal-boxes, the latter being provided with the tubular screw-threaded extensions, and means for adjusting the upper roll uniformlyy comprising screw-shafts provided with heads at their lower ends caps screwed upon the threaded extensions of the journal-boxes and beneath which caps said heads engage, gear wheels mounted upon the upper ends of the shafts, and an operating shaft provided with gear wheels meshing with the gear wheels upon the screw-shafts, and au operating handle upon one end of said operating shaft, as and for the purpose specified. 3. In a machine of the character described, the combination with the lower roll, of an upper roll mounted in journal-boxes, the latter being provided with the tubular screwthreaded extensions, and means for adjusting the upper roll uniformly comprising screwshafts having heads at their lower ends, caps screwed upon the extensions of the journalboxes and beneath which caps said heads engage, gear wheels mounted upon the upper ends of the shafts, and an operating shaft provided .with gear wheels meshing withthe gear wheels upon the screw-shafts, a plate slidingly mounted within the extensions of the journal-boxes, and springs arranged within the latter and bearing upon said plates, as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I affix my signature in presence of two witnesses.

ANDERSON B. COSBY.

Witnesses:

BEN HERsMAN, JNO. J. CREER.

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